Fried Cheese and Arugula Salad with Apple Cider Vinaigrette

This recipe was inspired by Ron, the Wandering Shepherd. He makes fresh cheese curds and said they are great fried. He wasn't kidding. I pan-fried the curds in oil for a few minutes then threw them on a salad for lunch. You could use any cheese resembling halloumi. The cheese must keep its shape when cooked. For vinegar I used our Wild Rose Vinegar, for which I used apple cider vinegar as a base.

Enjoy!

Serves 2

Salad

• Small handful of cheese curds • Few handfuls of arugula • 2-3 cherry tomatoes, quartered • Fresh chives or basil, chopped • Ground black pepper

Heat 2-3 tablespoons of oil in a small sauté pan. Once the oil is sizzling hot, add the cheese and cover (the oil can be messy). Fry a few minutes on each side, until the cheese is golden and crispy. Toss some greens on each plate, add the tomatoes and cheese. Drizzle some vinaigrette, top with chives or basil and a twist of black pepper.

Apple Cider Vinaigrette

• 3 tablespoons olive oil • 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar • 1 tablespoon honey • a small pinch of salt

Mix all the ingredients together.

Breakfast Salad - Soft-Boiled Egg, Aged Cheddar and Balsamic

Why not right? Runny egg yolks make great salad dressing. I made this the other day with a suillus mushroom foraged by Earlene from the Inn. She told us that the suillus goes really well with eggs. So I went ahead and put together this salad, topping it with the mushroom sautéed in butter, garlic, and fresh herbs. Yum. Feel free to top your breakfast salad with whatever you have around; toasted nuts, cheese, smoked trout, crispy bacon... Enjoy!

Serves 2

Ingredients

• 2 large eggs • 2 good handfuls of mixed greens • 1 tablespoon sunflower or grapeseed oil • 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar • 2 tablespoons chopped roasted almonds • a small handful of aged cheddar, grated • salt + ground black pepper

Mix the oil and balsamic. Set aside.

Bring a pot of water to a boil, lower the heat to a simmer and carefuly add the eggs. Cook 5 minutes. Put the eggs in cold running water for 30 seconds. Peel the shell off.

Top the greens with the almonds, cheddar, vinaigrette and the egg. Slice the egg open and season to taste with salt and fresh ground pepper.

Baked Trout with Chervil and Creamy Mustard Sauce

Another herb growing back from last year's garden is chervil. I use Chervil to give a dose of light liquorice flavor to poultry and fish. For this recipe, I paired it with trout and added another one of my favorite ingredients, mustard. I kept it simple. The sauce takes only a few minutes to throw together and the fish takes ten minutes to cook. A short note on overcooking salmon or trout: don't. Fish are much better on the medium-rare side. When overcooked they tend to dry out and lose a lot of flavor. The same rule applies to meats also. Less juice, less taste. I had steelhead trout, but rainbow or speckled will do just fine. For a side, I sautéed mustard greens to give the mustard back its leaves.

This recipe will serve 2-4 depending on how much trout you want to eat.

Ingredients

• 300-600g trout fillet(s) • 1/3 cup heavy cream • 1 shallot, finely chopped • 1 tablespoon butter • 1 tablespoon dijon mustard • 1 tablespoon maple syrup • 1 tablespoon chervil, chopped • juice of half a lemon • salt + ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Place your trout on a oiled baking pan and season with salt and pepper. Squeeze the lemon juice on top of the fish. Cook in the oven for 10 minutes. While the trout is in the oven, make the sauce. In a small pan melt the butter and sweat the shallot for 2 minutes. Whisk in the mustard and maple syrup. Then add the cream and the chervil, simmer for 2-3 minutes and remove from heat. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve and garnish with chopped chervil.